I have written a rather complex application in Microsoft Access. It is split into front end and back end files. To protect my code, I have compiled it and saved it as a runtime .accde file, which I then changed to an .accdr file to ensure it operated as a runtime. I have created two versions of the application: one for those with 32-bit Office installed and one for those with 64-bit office. I have used Inno Setup to package the application, the data file, and other files such as the icon file, the license file, etc., into an installable package, which works just fine.
Among my team of 27 beta testers of this application, so far 6 have downloaded it, and I have tested it on four of my own computers. On seven of these computers, the installation works perfectly and the application runs with no problems.
On the computers of three of my testers, when they try to run it, they get this error message:
The expression On Open you entered as the event property setting produced the following error: Bad file name or number.
* The expression may not result in the name of a macro, the name of a user-defined function, or [Event Procedure].
I'm pretty sure I know where the code is that's causing the problem, but cannot for the life of me figure out why the application crashes on those 2 computers but not on others.
The On Open event I suspect of causing the problem checks the linked tables, gets their connect string, then looks at the path for that string for the back end database. If it does not find it there, the procedure pops up a file selector dialog and instructs the user to find the data file, then it relinks all the tables.
If anyone could point me in the right direction to fixing this problem, I would be extremely grateful.
This is typically caused by a reference labelled as MISSING.
You have two (three) options:
Run the application on the offending machines with a full version of Access that lets you debug the code
Create a small test application that lists and verifies the references you use, and run this on the offending machines
Remove those two customers
Thanks to all the contributors here. Because of these folks and additional online research, the latest answer I can find is this:
This error occurs on a small percentage of computers on which the app is installed, and no one has yet figured out why, what causes it, or how to fix it. The workaround is to install the 2013 version of the Access runtime, as later versions will still cause the problem.
At least one of the offending computers is running the Click-to-Run version of Office. Still gathering information, but that's the status as of now.
Related
Every time I use the MS Access Immediate Window within the VBA Editor, Access crashes if I type any procedure name followed by the spacebar.
For example, I have a procedure called "CreateCEUploadFile" which takes a string parameter for a year. So, I'd like to type "CreateCEUploadFile "2019". However, as soon as I hit the spacebar after the e of File, Access freezes for a second, then crashes.
I initially thought this was specific to a database I've created. This is a database which was initially created 7 years ago, and has been worked on steadily over that time. So, I tried:
Compiling, then compacting and repairing. No change.
Decompiling the file. No change.
Re-compiling the file. No change
Creating a new database file, importing all objects. No change.
Restarting the PC. No change.
Removing Office (Office 365 Pro), restarting the PC, re-installing Office, re-starting the PC. No change.
I've now experimented, and discovered that the same issue occurs in all database files on this PC (a laptop that I've been using without issues for around 2 years). It also occurs with any call to any function (whether my own or built in), as soon as I hit a character after the function name.
In the immediate window:
? now --> works
? date --> works
? format( --> crashes as soon as I hit the spacebar`
I have now just discovered that this same issue occurs in MS Excel's VBA Immediate Window too...
Okay, so I've just found the solution.
Using the old principle of "What's changed since I last got this to work" I discovered that it seems to be a problem with my installation of Dextop.
I wanted to have a way of having multiple virtual desktops, and the built-in virtual desktops system in Windows 10 wouldn't cut it. Every time I do anything in SSMS on one desktop, it's reflected in the other.
So, I had a look around and found good reviews for Dextop. It seemed to work well - I have two different databases open in Access (one on each Desktop), and two different instances of SSMS, one pointing at each server. However, it seems to be this that was causing the Immediate Window to crash the relevant application.
Exit Dextop - all works well.
Restart Dextop - symptom immediately re-appears.
So now to try to find another alternative to Dextop....
I have an Excel addin, developed in VBA, deployed on the network.
The addin reads from an Oracle database, and pastes tables in a new worksheet, which will also contain a button (triangle shape) to refresh the table.
Everything works great, but I must protect code with password.
When i do, the following error appears on some machines:
Compile error in hidden module: Main.
This error commonly occurs when code is incompatible with the version, platform, or architecture of this application.
Although it compiles perfectly when unlocked.
On other machines it requires VBA password on close, even though i have nothing of the sort defined under close event.
I am hoping to secure my code, without running into above problems.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
I know of two situations in which this error occurs:
1: 32bit vs. 64bit issues (already mentioned in the comments). If you've developed a 32bit addin and try to deploy/use it within a 64bit Excel, then your quoted error message will appear.
2: Missing references.
I think the second option is more likely to be the cause of the problem, because usually all client PCs in a company will have the identical version of MS Office installed and this error occurs only on some machines.
So I suggest to check your references. In the VBA-Editor (Alt+F11) go to tools --> references and note down any ticked modules. Then compare this to a client where the error is occuring (go to client PC and repeat the procedure).
If the ticked modules don't match between development and client PC, this is most likely the cause of this issue. You might also encounter modules with a "MISSING" written in front of their name on the client PC. In this case, remove the tick from the missing module and try to execute your addin.
If it works flawlessly you should be good to go, if not you'll have to manually install the missing modules on the clients PC.
Hope this will help you.
Good morning.
I'm in the process of writing a vb.NET forms application that will read in a selection of .xlsX files and import their contents into a SQL2012 database. Because the files are in different folders and are all formatted differently, I'm having to write it so that each folder's contents is handled by its own dedicated module. However, one thing that's common across each folder is the process that I need to go through, which is to open each file, read its contents into a DataTable, carry out any manipulation required (i.e. removing empty rows) and then run a SqlBulkCopy to load the data into SQL before moving the original file into an archive location.
So far, so good. I've written and successfully run three of these modules, but the fourth one is giving me the error that's detailed in the Title of this post - the exception is thrown at the point where I'm trying to open the connection string to the Excel object. Again I stress that I've done this three times before, and each time has been successful.
Also, I've noticed that the exception only occurs when running the code in Debug mode. If I run it in Release mode it works without any complaints.
I'm developing this application in a 64-bit environment (VS2010 on Windows 8.1), but targeting the application to x86. I'm happy to continue writing in Release rather than Debug mode, but I'm curious as to why it works in one but not the other and I'd like to be able to code for both modes if at all possible.
TIA
I have an Microsoft Access 2010 database application with split front end and backend which has started to behave oddly, and I've exhausted all the options I know for investigating and resolving the problem.
32-bit Access 2010 running on Windows 8.1... I have both Access 2010 and Access 2013 installed, but the problem also manifests itself on a Windows 8.1 system with a completely fresh install of Access 2010 and no Office 2013 present. The issue also exists if the application is run using Access 2010 Runtime. The front-end is running on my hard disk, not in a Dropbox or similar environment. The back-end is in Dropbox.
There are a couple of third-party elements in the application -- references are as shown -- example 1 on the system with both Access 2010 and 2013 present, example 2 on the system with just Access 2010 present.
There hasn't been a software update to the Treeview control since December 2013. I've checked that the versions of the third-party controls I'm using are compatible with Windows 8.1.
Symptoms:
The application (an unreleased development version) initially works perfectly, but if closed and reopened, one specific operation (right-click on a third party treeview ActiveX control on the main form) misbehaves -- the right-click event is triggered multiple times instead of just once (the number of times is unpredictable). There are two treeviews on the main form with identical settings (populated dynamically with different data sets). One treeview behaves, one doesn't. Even if I remove all code from the right-click event, it fires twice.
This main form configuration and code hasn't been changed in over one year, not has the treeview config or code. I don't use Compact on Close. The application isn't logging any errors.
What I've tried:
If I restore a previous version of the application, it works... and when reopened, doesn't work. (I've tried this with several previous versions of the database.)
I've tried importing a copy of the main form from an old working version of the database -- same problem.
I've tried deleting the malfunctioning treeview and creating a new one (copying the one that is working) -- same problem.
I've tried creating a new blank database and importing all the objects from the old one. Once I've restored the references manually, the same problem.
I've reviewed all the possibilities mentioned in Can't eliminate Access corruption -- one commonality I have with this question is that I've (last three months) started using the VBA Implements keyword, but I hadn't made any changes to this code immediately before the problem showed up, and neither the main form nor the treeview control utilise it.
I've emailed the support team for the treeview control, but they haven't anything to suggest that I haven't already tried.
I've repaired the installation of both Access 2010 and Office 365 in case the references were somehow messed up.
I've un-installed Office 365 and Access 2010, rebooted the machine and reinstalled Access 2010. The references are all Office 14 references and the problem still exists (in a compiled accde). As soon as I reinstall Office 365, the references become mixed 14 and 15. (This is also true for the working version which is two years old).
What I haven't tried yet:
Rolling back a two months' worth of Windows updates to see if it's a Windows issue (this system has only been in use since early September, so this wouldn't be hugely onerous to try).
Rolling back to a version of the app from December 2012 (the last production release) which doesn't seem to have suffered the corruption and manually reapply almost two years worth of development changes. This would be a mega undertaking....
Are there any other options for investigation or resolution that I can try?
Edited to add: What finally worked
I created a new empty database, imported everything from the old database except the main form, which I recreated from scratch to look identical and have the same code as the old one... And the problem has gone away. It not very satisfactory as a resolution, but it seems to confirm that there was a corruption somewhere.
One of the best ways to remove corruption in an Access database is to save the forms and reports to text using the undocumented SaveAsText function, delete the form and report objects, close the database, use the undocumented /decompile switch to decompile the database, compact/repair the database, then re-import all the objects using the undocumented LoadFromText function.
Usually the Access databases corruptions affect the VBA modules, less likely the table data. So hopefully you should be able to copy the data to a blank database, get the VBA code from a older backup (since the last source code update) and merging the two together. It should work!
It won't stay fixed unless you disable updates. And you can't disable updates because you will be compromising security.
I have run into an odd problem while attempting to register a vendor-supplied ActiveX control on two different computers. On one computer, I can register the part using regsvr32, and then use it in an Access 2007 form with no problems. On the other computer, after I register the same DLL, it is simply not recognized as a valid ActiveX part by Access 2007, or any other Office 2007 program.
The ActiveX part is contained in a single DLL. I am not missing an additional file on one of the computers.
I cross-checked the exact version of the DLL on both computers using md5sum. Both DLL files are exactly identical.
I cross-checked all of the registry entries generated when the part is registered, using the Nirsoft ActiveX Helper utility. The entries are identical.
I checked Access to make sure that the part had a reference entry which pointed to the DLL.
I checked that the location of the DLL was specified as a Trusted Location in Access.
Unfortunately, I am not enough of a COM expert to know whether or not I am overlooking something odvious. Any additional ideas would be appreciated.
OK, total shot in the dark, but we have some computers in our organization the the IT has locked down pretty tight. When we run setup's they run OK and register our ActiveX components, but the first time we run the program it has to be as an administrator. After that the normal user is able to run the program.
You could try a simple VBS script to verify that the control can be created.
Using Notepad (or similar) save the following as test.vbs, and then double click it to run it.
set oTest = CreateObject("<YOUR PROGID HERE>")
MsgBox ("All Done Successfully")
You should get an reasonably descriptive error or "All Done Successfully".
This would at least point to whether its a system wide or Office specific problem.
And if you get an error it may well point to the actual problem.
OTH, if you don't get an error then you probably have an Office installation issue - which could be resolved by a re-install.